Piston for engines



(No Model.)

H. JONES; PISTON FOR ENGINES.

Patented Dec. 5, 1882"v Aiwgmssns:

' ATTORNEYS.

. I I UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY Jones, F STERLING, ILLINOIS.

PISTONIFQR ENGINES.

, SPECIFICATION forming 'part of Letters Patent N 0. 268,684, dated. December 5, 1882.

Application filed April 17, 1am. (No model.) A V To all whom it may concern V ling, in the county of Whiteside and State of Illinois, have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pistons for Engines; and 1 do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enableothers skilled in the art, to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification. and in which- Figure 1 is a sectional view through the axis of the cylinder of a steam, air, orgas engine provided with my improved piston. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the cylinder and piston through line as as, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the selfpacking stuffing-box which I. prefer to use with my self-packing piston, and the construction of which will bemade the subject of a separate application for Letters Patent.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures;

My invention has relation to steam-engines principally,bu't is applicable also to air and gas engines and otherengines using reciprocating pistons or plungers; and it consists in the construction of a self-packing piston, as hereinafter more fully describedand claimed.

' In the accompanying drawings,Arepresents the cylinder, and. A the cylinder-head.

The'piston or plunger consists of a hollow cylinder, B, open at both ends, as shown at b b, and having a central partition or diaphragm, O, in the center of which the pistonrod D is fixed. At opposite ends of the hollow cylinder, on the outside, are annular grooves or channels 0 c, midway between which and in a line with the interior diaphragm or partition, 0, is a third annular groove or channel, d. The walls of the hollow cylinder B are bored through in proximity to and on opposite sides of the central diaphragm, G, to form oblique ducts or channels 6 e, pointing respectively from the central diaphragm toward the channels 0 c, as shown clearly in the drawings, opening up into annular wedgeshaped recesses f and f,located in proximity to the central annular channel, d, one on each side thereof. In other words, and as will be seen from the drawings, the channels a and e diverge obliquely and in opposite directions from the central diaphragm, O, the broad or butt ends of the triangular or wedge-shaped annular recesses fand f facing each other.

On the upstroke ot'ithe piston or plunger, or

when this moves in the direction of the large arrow within the cylinder, the steam (or air,

as the case may be contained within the cylinder in the space between the head or diaphragm O and cylinder-head will in part be forced into the narrow annular space between the outside of the hollow cylinder B and. inside of the steam-cylinder A, as indicated by the small arrows marked 2; but here it meets another current of steam caused by the flow or jets through the oblique ducts or apertures e, as shown by the oblique arrows marked 3 thus causing the two currents to meet on the upstroke between the wedge-shaped recess f and annular rim of the piston, filling the annular space or channel 0, aulhthus forming a steam-packing between the piston and cylinder. 0n the downstroke the same thing is repeated on the other side of the piston-head or diaphragm U, steam'currents moving in 015- posite directions meeting in the annular space or channel 0 on that side of the hollow piston. The middle chamber or annular channel, (1, cperates to receive the steam which might escape from either end of the piston through the narrow space surrounding this at its middle part, be-

tweenfand f, it being proper to state here that the space between the piston B and cylinder A is shown considerably exaggerated in the drawings, which, if made on a proper working-scale, would not permit of the proper illustration of the construction of the piston. In other words, the live-steam packin g changes from c on the upstroke to c on the downstroke, and vice versa, because on the upstroke the packing is formed by the current of steam passing over the edge 1) meeting the jets of steam coming up through 0; but on the downstro-ke it is in likemanner formed by the current of steam passing over the edge b meeting the current which escapes in the opposite direction from the inside of the hollow p'lunger through the oblique ducts or apertures e.

The stuffing-box operates on precisely the same principle and in substantially the same manner. It consistsofa collar, E, which is bolted orotherwise secured to the under side of the cylinder-head A piston-rod D passing through its center. This collar has a series of circumterentially-arranged ducts or channels, h h, slanting from top to bottom, and two annular inside grooves,i and in, surrounding its inside bore, one on each side of the inner openings of the oblique ducts h h. The packing is formed by steam entering the ducts h, from which it is fed downward and inwardly to the central bore, 1, through which the piston works, the annular chambers or recesses 13 and 70 forming steam-chambers, which will intercept the flow of steam, either up or down from the inner months or openings of the ducts h, and co-oper'ate with the latter to form a perfect pack;

mg. It is obvious that my improvement is not limited to the piston of steam-engines, but may be applied with like advantage to the pistons of air-engines, gas-engines, hydraulic engines, and all other motors or engines employing a reciprocating plunger or piston.

Having thus described my invention,I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- The hollow cylindrical piston or plunger B, open at both ends I) b, and having a central solid partition or diaphragm,G, a series of ducts or channels, 6 e, diverging obliquely from opposite sides of said diaphragm from the inside to the outside of the cylinder, and annular channels or recesses c, f, d, f, and 0, constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose herein. shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY JONES.

Witnesses LOUIS BAGGER, I AUGUST PETERSON. 

